Adventures of Spore Kids 3: Takashi's Team
by Jlgjt
Summary: Number three in the series, covers Takashi the younger brown haired boy who wanted to be a baseball player and got a Poyomon partner. Enjoy!
1. Part 1

**Adventures of the Spore Kids**

**Episode 3: Takashi's Team**

Author's Notes: This story covers Takashi, the younger brown haired boy who wanted to be a baseball player and who got a Poyomon for a partner. Enjoy!

Date: January 24th, 2004

Time: 4:00 pm

Place: An indoor Little League-sized baseball field, somewhere in Odaiba...

Takashi kissed his mom goodbye as he scooped up his baseball and bat in one hand and Poyomon in the other. He was excited because today's meeting was themed around baseball, and there was going to be a pickup game all the kids where going to play!

He had been told in an email that the kids would have to come straight from school with any baseball equipment they had, so Takashi had made arrangements with his mom to bring his ball and bat with her in the car after he was picked up from school. Now Takashi need to know where to put the stuff...

As he looked around, he thought of what had happened over the previous month. His family had gotten used to having Poyomon around, even if his dad sometimes derided the Digimon as a "squishy ghost". Meanwhile Takashi himself had some leftover feelings to deal with: he had recognized Ken but refused to listen to his pleas to not accept the Spore, which lead to the conclusion that he could've done something to stop the agony but didn't... and with that came guilt as well. Also, he was the first out of all of the younger kids to recognize that Oikawa had not taken them to the Digital World as promised, and Takashi had felt at least partly responsible for the agony unleashed in the wake of his statement.

Though getting Poyomon was a good thing, Takashi would forever think of that New Year's Eve as "the day innocence died", for seeing all the hurt in the older kids and all of the other kids scared into self-defeating thinking merged to create a depressingly sorrowful impact on his outlook. Fortunately, much talking with Ken combined with seeing the positive impact in Noriko and Hiroshi over the previous two meetings had broken what feelings he had built up the previous weeks and also had allowed him to make several new friends. Now his life was slowly returning to some semblance of normalcy, assisted by helpful emails sent by various older kids on dealing with a number of issues.

However, looking around at the various kids and Digimon running around on the field nearby, waiting for the game to begin, Takashi knew that some things would never be normal...

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Takashi noticed two of the older kids talking nearby, one of which he quickly recognized as Ken. He rushed over to where they were talking and caught part of their conversation:

"Relax, T.K. We'll be able to make it work somehow." Ken was saying.

"But are they even able to play? Do they know the rules?" T.K. replied, pulling uneasily at the brim of his soft white hat.

"Which 'they' are you talking about...?" Ken started to ask before noticing, out of the corner of his eye, Takashi looking up at them.

Takashi blushed as Ken and T.K. stared down at him. He mentally debated whether to ask them his question, but before he could do anything T.K. asked him what he was looking for.

"Umm... where do I put these?" Takashi stated, holding up his ball and bat.

T.K. pointed to a small rack with a box underneath it. Takashi thanked him and went over to the rack. He slipped his bat into an empty spot in the rack and tossed the ball into the box.

As he looked back up, he noticed Patamon laying on T.K.'s head and pointed it out to T.K. "Thank you, but it isn't a problem." T.K. replied as the younger boy walked back over. "He gets a good view without having to work his wings, and he isn't that heavy on my head."

Takashi looked up at T.K. with a confused look, obviously wondering why a person would let a Digimon, even one as small and cute as Patamon, perch on his head.

T.K. chuckled at Takashi's confusion. "You'll understand one day." he stated. "Your Digimon will look like mine one day ya know."

"Really? How do you know?" Takashi asked.

"Because... I just know." T.K. stated, quickly turning somber.

"Well, how would you know? Your Digimon wasn't ever a baby, was it?"

T.K. sighed, and looked over at Ken. Takashi guessed from that that he had touched a sensitive point somewhere, and he blushed again as he shamefully looked down at his shoes. "I... didn't mean..." Takashi started to say.

"No, it's fine, Takashi." Ken stated, preempting a response by T.K. Ken immediately stooped down so that he could look the younger boy in the eye. He continued: "It's related to a... very painful memory, one he'd rather not remember."

"Oh..." Takashi quietly said. "Then should I...?" he began to ask.

"No, you don't have to. Your Digimon can stay here." T.K. cut in, also stooping down (being careful not to tilt his head and let Patamon fall off of course).

"Is it a... sad story?"

"Yes it is."

"Is it like the story of Kari's Digimon?"

"You mean Gatomon? Yeah, it kinda is. That's one reason Kari and I are such close friends."

"Is it like your story?" Takashi asked Ken.

"Yes, it is. All three of stories have one common element in them." Ken stated. "You will hear all of those stories eventually, and then you will understand."

Takashi looked down thoughtfully at Poyomon, then back up at T.K. and Ken.

T.K. smiled and said "We'll tell you the stories some time later, alright? Right now though you need to get to the visitor's dugout. That's where the other kids are waiting."

Takashi looked across the field and noticed the other kids sitting in the bleachers. He was about to head over there when he thought about Poyomon. "Umm... where do I put my Digimon?" he asked.

"Poyomon goes with you down to the bleachers. He watches from down there." Ken answered.

"Oh, OK, thanks!" Takashi said as he began walking briskly towards the bleachers. But before he got far he thought of another question. He turned to face T.K. and asked "What is T.K. short for?"

Both T.K. and Patamon chuckled a bit before T.K. gave an answer: "Well, my surname is Takaishi, close to your name, and my first name is Takeru, so T.K. just became a convenient nickname when I was younger, and I guess it just stuck with me."

"Oh, OK." Takashi said as he rushed to the visitor's dugout. Despite the casualness of his response, the thought of having T.K. as his mentor was growing on him, and it excited him inside as he made his way across the field...

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"Have fun, OK?" Takashi said as he put his Poyomon inside a special pen set up by the older kids as a place where the baby Digimon could play and watch the game in safety. Poyomon nodded, then bounced away to join the other babies.

"Hey Takashi!" someone called.

Takashi turned to look and found that Hiroshi had called him. He was sitting nearby, with Noriko next to him. "You want to sit here?" Hiroshi asked, pointing to an empty spot on the bench near him, on the opposite side of him from where Noriko was sitting.

Takashi nodded uneasily and sat down. "You feel ready for the game?" Noriko asked him.

Takashi shrugged his shoulders; he wasn't much sure of anything at the moment. "Why so uncertain about it?" Hiroshi asked.

"Well, I don't even know what we are doing. I mean who are we going to play against, the older kids?" Takashi replied.

"I'm sure it'll be fun. It is baseball, after all." Noriko pointed out. Takashi shrugged again; it was obvious he didn't particularly like the way the conversation was going.

After a minute of awkward silence, Takashi tried to get a conversation going in a more comfortable direction. "So, uh, I heard you two found your mentors." he tentatively stated to Noriko and Hiroshi.

Immediately the two others brightened. "Oh, yeah, we have." Hiroshi responded with some effort. "Right now I'm seeing whether I can help with drawing up in-store displays for the flower shop Sora's mom runs, and Noriko has been in touch with both Matt and Kari, trying to figure out where to help out."

"Oh, that's good." Takashi replied in a neutral tone of voice. This caused Hiroshi and Noriko to stare at each other in concern, then Noriko to ask if something was wrong.

"Well... I don't know." Takashi quietly stated. "I would really like to find my mentor, and I don't want to be the last one..."

Hiroshi nodded. "I don't think you would be the last one, because Keiko hasn't found hers yet either, as far as I know... Do you have a lead?" he asked.

"There's T.K..." Takashi quietly stated. "But I can't be sure..."

"T.K.? Yeah, that would sound about right..." Noriko said.

"How do you know?" Takashi asked, suddenly looking over in interest.

"Don't you read the emails? They sent one out a couple days ago showing how a particular Digimon would turn out to look like. You have a Poyomon, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, then it would be T.K. because Poyomon would become like his Digimon. That's how we found our mentors: we found the older kids who had Digimon who are the ones ours are going to look like one day."

"Oh, well, um..." Takashi smirked, still unsure about the theory.

"Hey, relax, will ya?" Noriko smiled. "I'm sure things will work out the right way for you."

Takashi flashed a look that seemed to indicate "That's easy for you to say."

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Hiroshi opened his mouth to reply to Takashi look, but before he could say anything a shrill whistle was heard from the other side of the dugout. All three of them looked up to see Kari, wearing a pink baseball cap and a whistle dangling around her neck instead of the digital camera that was usually there.

Kari blew the whistle again before starting to explain the game to the now attentive kids. "OK, everyone, you are going to play against all of our Digimon. They are going in the field first, so I need you to line up according to the batting order I'm going to give to you." Kari then started listing out names: "Noriko, Hiroshi, Keiko, Takashi..."

Takashi hurriedly scrambled, following Noriko and Hiroshi, toward Kari and the front end of the bench. Once there, he quickly sat down between Keiko and another girl. He turned to Keiko and shyly smiled at her. Keiko responded in kind, but looked out toward the field with some confusion.

Takashi noticed this and stated, "Yeah, it's going to be weird playing against the Digimon. How would it even work?"

"Oh, they must've worked out something. Otherwise, Kari wouldn't have told us that we were playing them." Keiko responded, still staring out to the field. Takashi followed her gaze and saw various Digimon scattering to the field positions; in particular he noticed Kari standing with her brother by a pitching mound that had been elevated by the placement of an inverted green dome-like object on top of it. As they talked, Takashi also noticed Kari's Digimon climb up on the same mound.

He didn't quite know what to make of it, but before he could do anything else Matt stopped by the dugout carrying the bats that had been brought. Takashi grabbed a bat along with some of the other kids, and was told to practice their swing before going up to bat. He nodded and went over to the batter practice box with Hiroshi and Keiko as Matt flashed a thumbs-up to the other older kids across the field.

Seconds later, Takashi heard one of the older kids (probably Davis) shout "PLAY BALL!"

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Takashi quickly lined up behind the other kids in the batter's box. To pass the time, he took some practice swings with the bat, limbering up with only a bit of confidence. He looked around, noting the Digimon positioned on the field and Noriko waiting for Kari to let her up to bat. He also noticed, from the dugout opposite the one he had been in, the older kids watching. He saw T.K., who waved at him. Takashi took a moment's pause to wave back, then resumed practicing.

Seconds later, a speaker nearby squealed to life and voices Takashi recognized as belonging to Tai and Yolei started speaking in a overly serious sports commentator manner that almost made him break down in giggles:

"Hey there sports fans, welcome to the first ever Digimon Classic! I'm Tai Kamiya and with me is Yolei Inoue. Today is a day for the history books: the first-ever baseball game played between human kids and Digimon!"

"That's right Tai! This game will certainly be like none ever seen before, so let's get down to business!"

"Right! The Digimon decided to play in the field first, so the kids are lined up to bat for the top of the first. First up to bat is Noriko, who dreamed to be teaching others one day."

Takashi saw Kari send Noriko out to home plate, which snapped him back to practicing his swing. Looking around, he noticed the older kids, and also the younger kids' Digimon (including his Poyomon) watching with fascination. He thought he saw one of the kids holding a video camera pointed to the field, and Kari had her digital camera ready to take snapshots. Seeing these things unnerved him a bit, and he put his focus back on his swinging to dissipate his nervous energy...

"Facing her on the mound is Gatomon." Tai's voice came from the speaker.

"Ah, yes, 'The Psychic' they call her." Yolei's voice replied. "It has been rumored that she can alter the direction and speed of the ball in mid-pitch, or even just before it crosses the plate! An excellent choice to start on the mound!"

"Indeed, Yolei."came Tai's voice. Takashi looked out to the field to notice Gatomon confidently standing on the elevated pitching mound, tossing a baseball in her right paw. He turned to notice Noriko's smirking face, then reminded himself to get practicing.

He started swinging the bat again, standing himself in a standard batting position. He saw Gatomon throw the first pitch out with surprising skill and speed for such a small Digimon. The surprisingly fast fastball crossed above the plate, Noriko whiffing her swing and getting a strike. Agumon, acting as catcher, caught the ball and flung it back at Gatomon. The latter smirked at Noriko, who looked a little stirred up but not completely shaken.

Takashi saw the second pitch get thrown out, which looked like another fastball. However, just before the ball crossed the plate, it dropped down closer to the ground, apparently without explanation. Noriko whiffed again, giving her a second strike. "Oh, that was a beautiful drop-out pitch!" Yolei exclaimed through the speakers. "It's very hard to do physically, but for 'The Psychic' it's just a matter of directing the brainwaves in the right direction."

Noriko mumbled something to herself, trying to keep "in the zone". Agumon returned the pitch, then Gatomon fired again with something that looked like a right hook. Noriko whiffed again, making the third strike and out. She shrugged and left the plate, letting Hiroshi up to bat.

Takashi worriedly watched between practice hits as a similar scenario played out with Hiroshi. Despite more confidence on his part, he just couldn't get a hit off her changing pitches: first the slowball that went higher over the plate, then the left hook, then the fastball. Looking around, he saw Hiroshi join Noriko in the bench, both dejected-looking. He turned to Keiko and wished her good luck as she went up. "You too." she replied.

"Next up is Keiko, who loves the smell of baking in the morning." Yolei blared through the speaker. Takashi shook his head at how nutty they were being, then resumed practicing knowing he was next.

He saw Keiko step up to the plate, eying Gatomon, still on the mound. The Digimon threw her first pitch, a curving fastball, and Keiko whiffed, swinging too late and getting the first strike. Fortunately, she had been watching what the other kids were doing and had realized that swinging wildly would get her nowhere, so when Gatomon delivered a slowball down the middle for the next pitch, Keiko held out the bat in an attempt for a bunt.

The ball dinged off the bat to the ground in front of Keiko, and she bolted for first base, letting the bat drop through her fingers as she did so. The field immediately came alive, as both Agumon and Gatomon raced for the ball. "I've got it!" the latter exclaimed, as she scooped up the ball and winged it to Veemon, who was the Digimon team's first baseman. Keiko dove for first base and managed to get her hand to touch the base before Veemon (who had one foot on the base) caught the ball.

"And she's safe!" Tai exclaimed through the speakers as Veemon tossed the ball back to Gatomon and Keiko got up and dusted herself off as she stood on the base. Now it was Takashi's turn to bat...

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Takashi gulped nervously as he passed Kari and took his place in the batter's box. He heard Tai's voice announcing him stepping up to the plate, but he wasn't paying attention to it. Instead, he nervously stared at pitcher Gatomon, who stared back with a confidence that unnerved him even more. Holding up his bat in readiness, he briefly looked around to see if he could find support anywhere else.

He glimpsed his Poyomon and the other baby Digimon watching from their play area. He glimpsed Tai and Yolei sitting in the commentator's box. He glimpsed the other older kids watching, T.K. among them. He heard T.K. yell "You can do it, Takashi!"

Those words echoed through his mind, giving him confidence. He turned to face the pitcher, who immediately delivered the first pitch, a fastball that dropped in front of the plate. Takashi swung... and missed as the ball dropped below the bat.

Takashi stamped his foot in the ground. "Rats!" he said to himself as he got back into batting stance. Agumon returned the ball, and Takashi looked over to T.K., who mouthed at him to try it again.

Takashi put on a determined face as he returned his attention to the pitcher. She fired the second ball, a right hook. Takashi was determined not to bunt like Keiko did, despite her indications from the base that he should. He swung... and missed again; strike two on him.

It was now or never: he would win the battle swinging a homer or he would go down as the third out. He looked over at T.K., who gave him a thumbs-up, an indication to keep trying.

The next moments seem to play out in slow motion: he turned to face the Digimon pitcher, she served the pitch (which seemed to move far slower than it should have), Takashi aimed the bat, and with eyes squeezed shut swung with all his might...

**End of Part 1**


	2. Part 2

**Adventures of the Spore Kids #3: Takashi's Team**

**Part 2**

**Crack!**

No sound could've been sweeter at that moment. The ball rebounded off the bat in almost the direction it had been thrown in and arced high over the heads of the Digimon.

Takashi had opened his eyes in time to see this happen, and with great joy he rushed toward first base. Tai's voice roared from the speaker: "Oh my goodness! High over the center; it could be a homer folks!" The older kids were excitedly cheering Takashi and Keiko on, as were the younger kids' Digimon, as Takashi could see while he excitedly ran to first base.

The ball arced over the heads of the Digimon on the infield and began to descend on the startled outfield (Tentomon, Patamon and Armadillomon). Takashi saw Patamon, hovering above the ground in centerfield position, try to catch the ball, but it apparently slipped through and the Digimon began to turn somersaults, shortly after crashing face-first into the ground. Takashi saw this too, but he was already nearing second and did not want to stop running. Nevertheless, his victory was clouded by what he had seen...

Armadillomon (playing left field) raced for the ball and tried to throw it to Hawkmon (shortshop), but by that point Takashi was fast approaching third base and Hawkmon thought Gabumon (third baseman) would be the one Armadillomon would be throwing to, so he was surprised and knocked off balance when the ball came in his direction.

Takashi saw Keiko cross the plate ahead of him, and he had just crossed third base himself heading for home. Hawkmon quickly picked himself and heard both Biyomon (second baseman) and Gatomon yell to throw for home. He tried throwing as hard as he could, but Takashi dived and touched home just before Agumon caught the ball. "He's safe!" Yolei exclaimed from the speakers. "That makes it 2-0 kids ahead!"

The other younger kids swarmed Takashi and Keiko, joyous and wanting to give hugs and high-fives. Similarly, the older kids were standing, clapping approvingly. All except T.K.

Takashi worriedly looked around, only to find T.K. running out to the field, towards the still-grounded Patamon. He suddenly went towards Patamon himself, drawing the attention of most everyone else on the field. Even the "commentators" noticed this: "Oh dear, it's seems there's trouble in the field, maybe an injury." Yolei stated. "I hope it isn't anything serious..."

Takashi blew past other concerned Digimon and arrived panting at a small huddle in centerfield. There T.K., Tentomon and Armadillomon were watching as Patamon, woozy from the somersaults and fall, slowly got back on his feet. Out of the corner of his eye, Takashi saw Izzy, Cody and Keiko join him.

He kneeled in front of Patamon, looking back and forth with guilty eyes between the Digimon and T.K. To the relief of the crowd, Patamon slowly began to shake off the wooziness. "He'll be fine." T.K. stated with a smile, and some of the crowd began to return, Izzy flashing a thumbs-up that caused a relieved report to be given by Tai over the speakers.

However, Takashi wasn't listening. He was looking up guiltily at a now-relieved T.K., feeling that he was responsible for the whole incident by his hit. T.K. turned to look at the younger kid, and Takashi got out "I... didn't... mean..."

T.K. understood what Takashi was saying but was not about to give blame. "Don't worry, he just a little woozy that's all." T.K. said. He smiled at Takashi, trying to reassure him. "You still did good, kid." he finished, patting Takashi on the head.

Takashi smirked as he fussed with trying to fix his hair, but seeing Patamon slowly regain his footing and began smiling relieved him as well, and he returned to the batting box, smiling and knowing his victory wasn't going to be one with clouds over it...

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After Patamon had recovered enough to continue playing, the game resumed. Compared to what was before, the rest of the inning half went fast, with the girl that was placed after him striking out from Gatomon's pitches, making the third out and ending the 1st inning's top half. The Digimon, including Patamon, came off the field and into the batter's box.

As they began to come off the field, Takashi went over to where T.K. was sitting. Looking back, he could see his Poyomon excitedly chatter with the other babies about Takashi, which naturally made him feel proud. But he still felt bad about having caused such a scene around Patamon. "He doesn't need another time telling him he's weaker than the rest, that he couldn't catch a ball because it would knock the wind out of him." Takashi thought, though he knew that there was a grain of truth to those statements. Just a grain though...

"You need something?" T.K. asked as Takashi approached.

"Well, I, uh..." Takashi stuttered as his cheeks turned red. He felt ashamed that he would even have to talk with him like this.

T.K. stood up and smiled. "Relax, he'll be fine. He's made of tougher stuff than you think."

Takashi looked up in confusion, then back over at Patamon, who had just arrived at the batter's box.

T.K. chuckled. "You'll understand one day. You'll see why I said that... and it might just blow your mind."

Takashi looked back at T.K. suddenly curious but still confused. "Really?" he asked.

"Sure. Let me give you a little insight." T.K. said just before bending down and whispering into Takashi's ear "If you ever see a white and blue angel Digimon on TV, it probably Digivolved from that cute little Patamon."

Takashi's eyes widened in amazement. He looked back at the grinning T.K., then grinned himself. It was at that moment Takashi was sure that he had found his mentor...

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Seconds later, Kari arrived on the scene. "You're up Takashi." she said, pointing over her shoulder to the field.

Takashi looked up with interested eyes. "Which position am I in?" he asked.

"Pitcher."

"**Pitcher?!**" Takashi exclaimed. He didn't want all the pressure of performing up to expectations on him again. "But I don't really know how to pitch! How am I even suppose to get strikes on them anyway? They're so low!"

"Oh, I'm sure you'll do fine." T.K. stated as he began to lead Takashi to the mound.

"But I...!" Takashi objected as he drug his feet behind him, trying to put up resistance to T.K.'s pull. Kari tossed him a glove and baseball before he could say anything else, and he was quickly left on the mound without a chance to ask for a substitution, to some amusement of the Digimon lined up to bat.

Takashi gave a peeved look to Agumon, the Digimon currently at the plate, then blew out a sigh. "Oh well, I guess I should just pitch." he said to himself as he put on the glove and readied himself to throw pitches...

He looked down at Agumon, patiently waiting for the throw, and wondered how he would ever even get in his strike zone. For a moment he thought that maybe the older kids were a bit crazy, then realized that he should pitch first and think later.

Feeling completely inadequate for the job, Takashi threw out the first pitch, a simple fastball. It went over the plate, but at about the level of Agumon's head – a ball. Annoyed, he noted that he should go lower and tried a slowball that he could control more easily, but it still ended up going too high – ball two.

Takashi scratched his head trying to figure out what to do next. The other kids were watching, and the fact that he hadn't gotten a strike yet was being to embarrass him. Finally, out of desperation, he tried a low underhanded slowball. It was low enough that it crossed at Agumon's chest and got a strike.

Encouraged, he tried another method of attack: firing to the side and aiming low. He tried to do this with a fastball, and he managed to get Agumon to whiff his swing – strike two. Takashi now tried hooking it downward, and got his third strike. As Agumon walked off dejectedly, Takashi sighed to himself: hurdle one was cleared, at least...

He heard Tai announce that Veemon was the next up to bat. Takashi decided to continue the strategy he had used before, as Veemon was of a similar build and body type. He threw out the first pitch, a fastball, to the side like he had done before, causing Veemon to whiff a swing and earning one strike. The catcher returned the ball to him, and Takashi fired again, this time trying to hook it. Veemon held out the bat in an attempt to bunt, but the ball bounded off the bat backwards, causing a foul and a second strike.

"I've got him now!" Takashi said to himself as he caught the return and threw a low slowball. Veemon swung too early, and the ball passed over the plate unhindered. Veemon was now out, and smirked as he left the plate.

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Takashi was feeling pretty confident in his abilities... until he saw who was up to bat next.

"Up next is 'the Psychic' herself, who can just as easily predict when to swing as how to strike 'em out!" Yolei announced through the speakers.

Suddenly the spirit of confidence seemed to switch places as Gatomon took the plate. She gave a "game on!" look as she held up the bat. In most other situations, her looking confident by holding up a bat taller than herself would have been comical, but no one was laughing now. It was the middle of the game, not the time for humor.

Takashi's face fell as he wondered how he would get her out; her strike zone was smaller than Agumon's and Veemon's, and if she could read his mind she would hit it the first time he pitched out. He looked over at the older kids, giving them a look of how he was supposed to do this.

The older kids looked at each other, and some whispers were exchanged between them. "There seems to be some wondering if even pitching into her strike zone is possible." Tai dryly commented over the speakers.

Finally there seemed to be some consensus among the kids, and T.K. hurriedly went onto the field. He walked over to the confused Takashi and began to explain what had been talked about: "We've been seeing the trouble that you would have trying to pitch into what would be the standard strike zone for her, so we're gonna bend the rules and allow the strike zone to be expanded. Anywhere below the head is now part of the strike zone." T.K. smiled and winked to reassure him as he returned to the bleacher.

Takashi looked around: to his Poyomon, watching eagerly from the play area; to Patamon, smiling in the batter's box; to the other kids that had been given the Spores, now playing at various places on the field; to the older kids, watching excitedly from the bench; and finally to Gatomon, still confident, still waiting for the pitch with bat held high.

He thought of T.K.'s confidence in him, the reassuring smile and wink, and for the first time he felt he could do anything. He responded to the confidence in her with some of his own, and readied a pitch...

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Rather than throwing to the right, as he had been doing, he decided to throw to the left, to catch Gatomon off-guard in case she had been observing him before. The concept was right, but the throw was too high – ball one.

Takashi smirked as he thought about his next move. Gatomon was still trying to stare him down, and he was beginning to get a little nervous. Blowing out some air to calm himself, he tried the throw to the left again... and got the strike as it passed over the plate about Gatomon's eye level.

"I'll have to try even lower." Takashi said to himself. Nervously, he switched to a low, slow pitch, which went over her head for ball two. "Rats!" he said as he caught the returning ball.

He debated whether to return to his sideways style, but he couldn't think of anything else to try, and he could feel all the eyes watching and counting on him: his Poyomon, the other kids, even the older kids' Digimon. Feeling as though he had no other choice, he tried a fastball from the right. She swung and hit the ball, but it went wild over the left-field line – a foul and strike two.

Takashi was a little shaken that she had hit the ball, but he knew that with the right changes he could get the third strike on her. It was his will against hers, and he knew that too many eyes were watching to make him want to give up. He put on his confidence face, taking the return and quickly feeding it back out, never taking his eyes off the plate.

He threw slow and to the left. As the ball neared the plate, Gatomon swung... and missed. The ball went by the plate just below the swing for third strike and out.

The other former Spore kids immediately erupted in cheers and celebration for Takashi, and, looking over at the older kids, Takashi saw that they had done so as well, albeit with much less intensity. He tossed away the glove and ball, and looked over at T.K. Seeing him give a thumbs-up was worth more than the cheers of his peers, and even though the game would go on, he knew that he had won his personal battle: he had his mentor, and his confidence in himself, and others...

**The End**


End file.
